Modern mobile devices are capable of performing local searches based on a current location of the mobile device. A positioning system of the mobile device can provide a current location for the local search. For example, a user may want to search for a coffee shop that is near to their current location. The accuracy of the user's current location needed to find the nearest coffee shop is different if the user is searching in a densely populated city versus a sparsely populated rural area. For example, in a city (e.g., Manhattan N.Y.), where there is a coffee shop on almost every block, a high resolution user location is needed. By contrast, in a rural area (e.g., rural Idaho), where there may be one or two coffee shops, a low resolution user location would suffice.
Due to privacy concerns, many users do not want to share their precise current location with others. When searching in densely populated areas, a more precise current location will not reveal the user's private information. However, when searching in sparsely populated areas, a search that uses a precise user location may provide search results that implicitly disclose the user's precise location and possibly reveal the user's private information.